Mega Minds
CHAPTER ONE 1. 1INTRODUCTION One of the effects of over-population in a country is unemployment. Unemployment is the undoing of graduates because it literally destroys the individual morally and raptures the ties and relationships they form. Unemployment is the fact of a number of people, especially graduates not having a job to make their lives suit the economy. Economy is the relationship or the link between the production, trade and supply of money and other commodities in a particular country. A graduate is the person who has got a university degree and has completed his or her school studies.
In Nigeria, the main objective of every individual who attends a higher institution is get a job after all the struggles in the institution. But the reverse is the case. Not more than 20% of the graduates every year from different institutions of higher learning in the country gets comfortable immediately after school. Philosophers say that an idle mind is the devils workshop. Owing to the level of unemployment among graduates, crime rates gets on the increase. Frustration causes most of the crimes committed as a result of unemployment.
Every individual would like to have their ends meet. So, that is why all the crimes are being committed. 1. 2TYPES OF UNEMPLOYMENT Unemployment can be of many types. These are 1 FRICTIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT This is a kind of unemployment that occurs because it takes workers some time to move from one job another. It may be the case that some workers find new job before they live their olds ones. In this case, a worker must look around for a job that is a good fit for him/her and this process takes some time. During this time, the individual is considered to be unemployed.
But frictional unemployment is seen and thought and considered to last only for a while or short period of time. It has been seen by economists not to be especially problematic from an economic stand point. It can be the particularly time because the modern-day technology is helping both workers and companies make job search process more efficient. 2CYCLICLICAL UNEMPLOYMENT. It’s probably not surprising that unemployment is higher during recession and depressions and lower during periods of higher economic growth. But that is not the case for Nigerian economy in any way.
Because of this, economist have coined the term, cyclical unemployment to describe the unemployment associated with business cycles. When demand for goods and service in an economy falls, some companies respond by cutting down production laying off workers rather than by reducing wages and prices. When this happens, there are more workers in an economy than there are available jobs, and as a result there is unemployment. 3SEASONAL UNEMPLOYMENT. This kind of unemployment results and can be said to occur due to the nature of job of an individual.
For instance, road construction workers. Their works and operation comes temporarily to a halt during the rainy season. This is physical conditions of the environment. Owing to the situation, they are said to be unemployed during the season. Again the fishermen see also to be unemployed during the rainy season because of the high rise of the waters. So they are also termed to be unemployed seasonally. This type of unemployment is seasonal because the nature of the job of an individual suits a particular season to carry out effective operation.
Apart from the above defined types of unemployment there are also voluntary and involuntary unemployment. * VOLUNTORY UNEMPLOYMENT. This is a kind of unemployment whereby an individual or a person has personally decided not to acquire any job. * INVOLUNTORY UNEMPLOYMENT This is the reverse of the case of voluntary unemployment. Involuntary unemployment is a situation whereby an individual is willing and able to perform a particular task as a job but no one is anywhere to be found. This is the most kind of unemployment that is experienced in the today’s Nigerian economy. CHAPTER TWO 2. CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT There is a saying, “there is no smoke without fire”. This implies also to the rate of unemployment among graduates of this country today. There are many causes of unemployment. Many are the affiliation of Nigerian university graduate, but the most harrowing is that of unemployment. Roaming the streets, looking for jobs that are hardly in existence. When he is invited for an interview, he is subjected to inhuman treatments, discriminations and humiliations. And at the end of the day, he is left in the cold as the job is given to the applicant with the right connection.
From time, the subject of unemployment has always been an issue of great concern to economists, policy makers and economic managers alike; giving the devastating effect of this phenomenon on individuals, the society and the economy at large. Omobola (2007), traced the nations graduate unemployment problem to the root causes and came up with the following; (a) Graduate definition of a job (b) Expectations and (c) Competitiveness 2. 2BOOKISH KNOWLEDGE AND LACK OF SKILLS AND PRACTICE There is a big gap between academia and industry.
And this is one of the major causes of unemployment among Nigerian graduates. Our educational institutions seem to be producing only academicians who end up not solving the problems of the day. Out – molded courses are still being taught in some of our educational institutions with absolute equipment and technologies. This is not the case in some advanced countries are enhanced. In Nigeria, we can find a mechanical engineering student who would tell you all the functions of an engine but when you ask the same student to identify a part he has mentioned, it becomes a problem.
Some lecturers have fought for many years and have refused to make way for younger lecturers and is still “living on his past glory”. Our educational institutions have refused to expand facilities, employ modern equipments and also introduce relevant courses to meet the job market. 2. 3NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMIC SYSTEM. Most of the people that handle most professional jobs and services in Nigeria are foreigners. Negligence is laid on Nigerian graduates. And huge ransoms are paid to these foreigners in order to reward them and also keep them back. CHAPTER THREE . 1EFFECTS OF UNEMPLOYMENT Unemployment lays very great effects on the society and the individual precisely. It is a killer disease among graduates. Unemployment is as deadly as inferiority complex. * PROSTITUTION AND CHILD TRAFICKING When a graduate is unemployed for more than five years, especially the women, without having any source of income, she starts developing the interest in prostitution as a cure to her problem. * LOSS OF HUMAN ESOURCES The problem of unemployment causes loss of human resources. Labourers waste their maximum time in search of employment. INCREASE IN POVERTY Unemployment deprives a man of all sources of income. As a result he grows poor. Therefore, unemployment generates poverty. * SOCIAL PROBLEMS Unemployment breeds many social problems comprising of dishonesty, gambling, bribery, theft, fraud, prostitution and others. As a result of unemployment, social society is jeopardized. * POLITICAL INTABILITY Unemployment gives birth to political instability in a country. Unemployed persons can easily be enticed by any anti-social elements. They lose all faith in democratic values and peaceful means.
They consider that the government is worthless which fails to provide work for them. * EXPLOITATION OF LABOUR In the state of unemployment, labourers are exploited to the maximum possible extent. Those labourers who get work have to work under adverse condition of low wages. All this tells upon the efficiency of labourers greatly influence the pattern of unemployment opportunities in the country. Being poor, a person does not make any gainful use of existing resources. * DEFECTIVE EDUCATION SYSTEM The education system in our country too has failed to respond to the existing inter-generation gap.
It simply imparts general and literary education devoid of any practical extent. CHAPTER FOUR 4. 1 SOLUTIONS TO UNEMPLOYMENT: A WAY OUT The government should put up and adhere to the law of job leaving age. This will give rise to the step-down of those who have been in office, thereby creating room for young school leavers to take up the jobs. This will help in the reduction of unemployment in the country. VOCATIONAL INSTITUTION ESTABLISHMENT The government should lay emphasis on the establishment of vocational institutions in Nigeria.
This will give and impart skill full knowledge on students or individuals. When an individual has attended a vocational institution, he can fend for himself. An individual learns a particular trade n a vocational institution. He may learn tailoring skill, craft, vulcanizing and other important trade the will give him income for survival there by creating employment. Government should recognize the professional personnel in Nigeria who waste their career most times in bars and put them in the spaces occupied by foreign contractors.
The funniest part of this all is that government pay double ransomed to these foreign contractors as salary and a way of retaining them. Establishment like ITF – Industrial Training Fund should also be enacted in the country. This is also related to vocational education institutions. Skills learning and acquisition centers should also be built across the nation, in different places. With the erection of these centers, individuals would be motivated to attend in order to get what to do.
For instance, the Lagos refinery alone would offer Job opportunities for up to 5000 workers and an estimate 2000 workers to run the industrial complex. If all these are effectively carried out, everybody would be able to make food available on his table. CHAPTER FIVE 5. 1SUMMARY It is not a hidden issue, even to the eyes of toddler, on the rate of unemployment in Nigeria, especially among the university graduates. These are those who have burnt their mid – night candles to make sure that they become some person in life, but due to the menace of unemployment in the country, the reverse has become their case.
But no matter how everything stands, the menace of unemployment can still be traced back to concern the government of the country. If the government should make a move concerning this issue, at least it is said that heaven helps those who helps themselves, even the individuals will be motivated. It is when a hand is stretched to drowning person that attempts to rescuer can be made. The country, at the state of unemployment rate is seriously drowning. Sp more emphasis should be laid. Also we should try to imbibe our culture and drop the culture of the white man – British man.
Emulations are on the high rate which I personally would term illiteracy. For instance, a white man may be seen putting a kind of fancy woolen material on the television set. This is because of the weather conditions over there. But a Nigerian would emulate and want to be like the white man, and one sees somebody putting a woolen thick material under the harsh hot weather condition of the tropical Africa. ILLITRACY!!! Generally, both the individuals and the top officials should all put hands on deck to eradicate the irritating menace of unemployment in Nigeria.
REFERENCES 1. News speak magazines p. g 26, 1992. 2. Mrs Omobola’s speech on the causes and effects of unemployment 2007 3. Prof Jonan Bruwer, unit for institutional planning and research, june 2006 4. Google search engine _ Wikipedia encyclopedia _www. huffintonpost. co. uk/tag/gragduate unemployment 5. Yahoo search engine 6. A-one in English textbook; an essay on unemployment 7. Marist brother’s Juniorate; citadel of learning 2011 8. Newspoint newspaper p. g 12, 2008 9. Daily newspaper p. g 35, 2009 10. Vanguard magazine p. g 6, 2002.
